October 4, 2016 – Our speakers on October 4th were Lt. V. “Buzz” Buskirk and Captain Joe Stephens of the North Charleston Police Department. The subject of their discussion was active shooters and how we, as civilians, can respond to such an event. Their talk for us was condensed from a 3 hour plus presentation they have created for public awareness. After attending a similar class-Civilian Response to Active Shooter Events (CRASE), they received permission from Mayor Summey and Police Chief Driggers to go out and teach the class. According to Capt. Stephens, “it ain’t going to stop”. In 2015, the longest period of time without a mass shooting, (4 or more victims), was 8 days. The audience for their class has included: someone who was in World Trade Center Tower 2 on Sept 11, a father from Sandy Hook (whose daughter was out sick that day) and a professor from Virginia Tech. Their goal is to show us that we are not helpless in these situations. The presentation was divided into 3 areas: Disaster Response Psychology, Active Shooter Events and Civilian Response to ASE (Avoid, Deny, Defend).
The continued the presentation with an very realistic reenactment of the Columbine High School Shootings.
The three stages of Disaster Response are Denial- to deny a disaster is even happening- where one attributes events to something else- fire crackers instead of gunshots for example.
The second stage is Deliberation -At this point, people in a disaster have to decide what to do. IF the person does not have a preexisting plan, this creates a serious problem because the effects of life threatening stress on your bodily systems severely limit your ability to both perceive information and to make plans. The third stage is the decisive moment- Once a decision has been made, act quickly and decisively.
They went on to talk about specific attacks. Centers of commerce are the most common attack locations with education following. There were 374 mass shootings in 2015, and the number of attacks is increasing. They referenced a number of events that are very close to home:
- 2009- Reliable Metals-Alabama- 10 people died
- 1988- Greenwood, SC- 2 eight year olds died, 8 students and 2 teachers wounded at Oakland E.S.
- 1995-Blackville, SC-1 teacher killed, 1 wounded at Blackville-Hilda H.S.
- 2015- Charleston, SC- Emmanuel AME Church- 9 victims.
A subsequent video showed a shooter enter a school board meeting, paint V on the wall and invite the ladies to leave. The surprising aspect of this was how they took their time getting out and no one reacted to the painting of the wall as an ominous sign. Interestingly it was an older lady, who, by surprising the gunmen at a side door, changed the scenario keeping the gunmen further from the board members and likely saving their lives.
In conclusion:
- Avoid-Know your exits.
- Deny-Block entry.
- Defend-improvise weapons.
You are not helpless- what you do matters.
If you are interested in scheduling a training session, please contact Lt. Buskirk at vbuskirk@northcharleston.org or 843-343-2720.
— Don Baus, Keyway Committee